Ivory and Bone

Ivory and Bone is an interesting book. It's set during prehistoric times, roughly in the Ice Age period I guess, and is told from the perspective of Kol, the son of the clan elder. The problem Kol and his brother Pek have is there are no women to marry, to continue their family- but Mya and Seeri show up with their brother from another clan, maybe their problem is solved? Pek and Seeri hit it off right away, but Kol and Mya... that's a complicated road. 

I guess this is like Clan of the Cave Bear meets Pride and Prejudice? I've seen it referred that way and it's apt. Kol is a good guy- they're not savages in this- in fact even though they live in a prehistoric era they seemed remarkably civilized. Perhaps too much so. One of the issues I had with this was that they used modern language and speaking styles, and actually referred to the cooking area as a kitchen. It just seemed incongruous with the era. But like I said Kol is a good guy- he likes to lay in the grass and listen for the bees, so he can find honey- he's not a spear throwing stereotype. 

Kol and Mya do not hit it off- think angst and misunderstandings and all the rest- but when another clan appears, led by Lo- a woman who has a history with Mya's group- things get dicey. Mya and Lo have a history that could be a problem for Kol's clan, and he doesn't know who he can trust. I thought Kol's whole clan was pretty decent- again they seemed remarkably civilized, not really warlike in any way- and this is about family and clan as much as about prehistoric action. In fact there's not a ton of action- other than some sabertoothed cats and mammoth encounters, there isn't much. I was still invested in the story and I kept waiting for Kol and either Mya or Lo to get together and quit messing around. 

One thing that might be an issue for some readers is the perspective. Kol speaks as if he is speaking to Mya, so occasionally he refers to the reader as "you" and that threw me off a bit. I've seen other reviewers mention that as well. It's kind of a gutsy move to write the story that way, since it could be problematic for some, but other than being occasionally jarring it didn't wreck the book for me. There's a reason for it and I thought it was effective. 

On balance I liked this a lot. I thought the prehistoric world was drawn well, you could feel the isolated nature of the clans, and both Kol and Mya were relatable (although with Mya it takes a while). You know there's something there- she's like the Mr. Darcy of the story with her silences and cutting words that have more behind them- but I was pulling for her once I knew what was happening. Again it reads a little too modern for an Ice Age environment but beyond that this works, and I thought it was quite good.